Cognitive training for seniors is a very useful therapeutic resource that allows us to stop the decline of certain mental capacities.
When we enter old age, there are several aspects of our psychological abilities that may be at their best. The fact of having learned from decades of experience, if we know how to take advantage, makes us wiser and with more judgment for many things.
However, it is also true that old age comes with limitations associated with the passage of time and its effects on our body, including our nervous system.
Cognitive training for the elderly It is precisely a tool with which psychologists help cushion this mental wear and tear. Because while it is true that practically no person of retirement age is as mentally agile as when they were 20 years old, the assistance of psychology professionals can have a very positive impact.
We call cognitive training the set of techniques and strategies used by psychological intervention specialists to help those who need it to preserve basic cognitive abilities.
Among these mental abilities we find the use of language, memorization, the ability to differentiate between stimuli, the ability to concentrate, writing, sense of direction, etc. That is, all those faculties that allow us to solve specific problems, decide the best options for action and learn from what happens to us.
Cognitive training can be used in patients of almost all ages, but Its application to the elderly is especially frequent, because elderly people especially benefit from its effects. With this type of patient, the objective is to stop the weakening of these cognitive abilities as much as possible.
It is for this reason, among other things, that one of my main lines of work is cognitive training for the elderly: the simple passage of time means that practically everyone who passes the retirement threshold can experience advantages. in their mental and communicative performance when going through several sessions of this type of intervention.
Why do cognitive abilities decrease with age?
As we have seen, in people who have entered the stage of old age, cognitive training It is useful regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with a specific condition or syndrome, given that the decline in cognitive abilities in general is assumed to be normal at these ages. Now… why does this loss of psychological abilities occur?
Brain aging
Aging can be observed directly in brain tissues, in the same way that it can be seen in people’s skin. This change in appearance, in which the cerebral cortex shrinks a little, reflects changes at a functional level in the nervous system: neurons no longer work with the same efficiency due to metabolic and structural changes in nerve cells, and due to death. of many neurons.
Tendency towards sedentary lifestyle
Another aspect to take into account is that older people tend to be less physically active than the rest of the age groups, due to lack of energy and physical limitations such as joint pain or loss of muscle mass. This makes it easier to fall into a sedentary life, in which there is not a great variety of stimuli and consequently the person rarely encounters cognitive challenges.
Adoption of a comfortable lifestyle
In line with what we have seen in the previous paragraph, older people tend to follow lifestyle habits that fit with what they already know and what they can do. One of the causes of this is that as we grow, we find environments and contexts that fit our innate potentialities, things that due to genetic inheritance do not cost us much to do.
For example, if someone has a knack for creativity, it is very possible that they will reach retirement using a good part of their free time to paint, and already having a family and friends who appreciate and support these initiatives. This is not bad in itself, obviously, but it is still a way of keeping us away from what is challenging, something new for us. Cognitive training for the elderly breaks this “comfort zone” logic
How is psychological intervention carried out?
What is the methodology that psychologists use when intervening with cognitive training for elderly patients? In my work, the 3 phases in which this process develops are the following.
1. Evaluation
First of all, the person must be evaluated to determine to what extent the cognitive wear and tear caused by old age significantly affects their abilities. With this objective, I apply a previous test that serves to establish the baseline of the performance, the state of the patient prior to the mental training to which he is going to undergo.
Furthermore, this not only serves to know in which skills he fails the most and which abilities are most preserved (and to what extent), but also allows you to track progress, to check if you are reaching the set objectives
2. Psychological intervention sessions
If the previous stage was characterized by the collection of information, this involves the patient. To do this, in my case weekly visits are scheduled to CECOPS, a place where I directly care for the person who needs professional intervention; These visits can be done individually or in collective sessions depending on the specific needs of each one.
It is important to highlight that in the cognitive training sessions for the elderly Psychologists do not limit themselves to giving information: This would not be a real training, but an informative talk. Although transmitting the theory of what happens is important, what is fundamental are the psychological activities that are carried out by patients, under the supervision of the psychologist.
These activities can be focused on different domains of human cognition: memorization, the use of language, the use of guidelines to know what to do at each moment, etc.
3. Practice at home
Although psychological intervention sessions in the psychologist’s office are very important, it is necessary not to “disconnect” from what was learned there between sessions. You have to learn those days to consolidate and reinforce those learnings
Therefore, another of the functions that psychologists have is to motivate and inform patients so that they find moments to apply certain psychological exercises in their daily lives. This is not very different from what happens when we want to progress in school or university: we have to study regardless of whether there are classes that day or not.
On the other hand, as psychological well-being professionals, psychologists also like to have constant and fluid communication with the close environment of patients exposed to situations of a certain vulnerability; Typically, these people are members of your family. Thanks to this, we ensure that in your home there is also a context that encourages the person to continue progressing, and that can help them reach their goals.
